Maya Moore's big second half leads Lynx past Fever

As the buzzer sounded Sunday evening in Target Center after the Lynx's 83-77 win over the Indiana Fever, Minnesota players and coaches seemed to drop their shoulders a bit and take a deep breath.

The team finished six games in 10 days with a record of 3-3, holding on to the league's best record at 11-4.

According to coach Cheryl Reeve, the team hasn't practiced in two weeks, which was evident at times during the game, as the Lynx finished with 19 turnovers and had trouble executing inbounds plays down the stretch.

She added that while it was a tough stretch for her players, they're not seeking pity from anyone.

"Don't feel sorry for us," Reeve said. "It's hard for everybody in this league at some point.

The six games concluded with two home contests Friday and Sunday. The team emphasized the importance of those two games in order to go into a four-day break on a high note, calling the two wins an "exclamation point."

Maya Moore led the offensive charge against Indiana with 25 points, 19 of which came in the second half.

Moore said the Lynx were able to carry some defensive momentum from their Friday night win over Washington into Sunday, which allowed them to get stops at crucial times. She was happy to have capped off this particular stretch on a high note.

"We take every part of our season as its own challenge and we're happy that we could finish this one off strong," Moore said.

Nobody is looking forward to the break more than eight-year veteran Seimone Augustus.

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Augustus has been suffering from bursitis in her left knee for the past few weeks, an injury that forced her to sit out Wednesday's game at Phoenix. She said she'll use the break to do "absolutely nothing" with her knee in the hope that the inflammation will subside and she'll feel better.

"We've been saying the light is at the end of the tunnel for a week now. It's finally here; we get a break," Augustus said.

She added that everyone on the team has aches and pains after a stretch like the one they just navigated and applauded her team for the resiliency it showed playing through the pain.

Augustus appeared to be at full strength on the court, as she poured in an efficient 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting.

Going 3-3 in a six-game stretch might not be impressive for the defending WNBA champions, but Augustus said team morale is at an appropriate level for this point in the season.

"It feels good to get that vibe and energy going in the right direction and will carry through for the rest of the season," she said.

Lindsay Whalen controlled the pace for much of the evening, amassing 16 points while shooting a perfect 5 for 5 from the floor and 6 for 6 from the free-throw line. She added five assists as well.

The Lynx play again Thursday, when they travel to Seattle to take on the Storm.

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Indiana coach Lin Dunn was honored before the game for her contributions to women's basketball. The seven-year veteran is the winningest coach in Fever history with a record of 125-91, including the 2012 WNBA championship. "She's been a great mentor to me personally. She makes you step it up as a coach," Reeve said. "On one hand, it's a relief that she's retiring. On another, she's been so terrific for our game, you want to keep her around."